By Jon Brooks 

Despite having 14 newcomers on the roster for the 2024-25 season (eight of them freshmen), the Omaha Maverick Hockey team lands at the 15th spot in the preseason USCHO.com Men’s Division I Hockey Poll (Sept. 23, 2024).

UNO is one of eight National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams to make the poll’s top 20.

New NCHC member Arizona St. is tied in the 20th spot (with Northeastern). The Sun Devils are the first new team to join the conference since it was first founded in 2011. 

Miami (OH) is the only conference foe not on the list (it will be interesting to see if newly-minted Miami Head Coach Anthony Noreen can improve the RedHawks’ fortunes in the coming seasons). 

Denver sits in the top spot in the USCHO.com poll (with 42 first-place votes). The defending national champions return a number of talented skaters this season including senior forward Jack Devine and sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium. 

MavPuck.com recently profiled all 14 of the new players to join Omaha’s roster this season (click here to view). 

We also discussed all 14 of the new Mavericks on the season seven premiere of the MavPuckCast (click here to watch the season premiere). 

In addition, Jason and I will be unveiling our “NCHC Preseason Predictions” on the MavPuckCast next week! Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X and Facebook so you can be notified when that episode drops.  

And be sure to watch Bridget’s special interview episode of the MavPuckCast with NCHC Commissioner Heather Weems.